Sunday, April 07, 2013

The Kitten....

We love cat. Since we start a family way back in the early
sixties of the twentieth century we always had cats running around in the
house. It was always sort of a family member that brings cheer to the kids and
a good therapy for us. In those days we just fed the cats with food that we ate
and it would do it things outside the house so there was no real budget
when keeping cat at that time except the occasionally Veterinary service.
Everywhere we went and live we always have cat. At time we kept more than one
cats and it always bring happiness to the family. Even when working in Sarawak
we had two cats. It was a stray that we pick up. When I got transferred back to
the mainland state of Pahang we decided to bring along the two Sarawak's cats.
To take it along we had to get documents since it is illegal to take animals
and plants from the Borneo state to Peninsular Malaysia. We took the then Ferry
Malaysia to go back to the mainland. The journey to Kuantan in Peninsular
Malaysia start from Kuching, Sarawak; with stops at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah and
the port of Singapore before proceeding to Kuantan. On the way to Singapore we
ran short of sands for the litter box and had to rush to the city of Singapore
to get it. We got it and managed to catch the ship just hours before it left
for Kuantan. We arrived in Kuantan and took the two cats in our car to a
cousin's house at Batu Hitam. It was indeed a historic journey for us where we
brought along our cats all the way from Kuching, Sarawak to Kuantan, Pahang.
For the first few months we stayed at our cousin's house in Batu Hitam where the cat
spends their first few months in Peninsular Malaysia. Later on we rented a
house at Alor Akar and live there until I decided to retired from the
Government service. While living at that house in Kuantan where there was a
large compound and jungle nearby both the cat die mysteriously one by one,
probably cause by the stings by insects or beaten by poisonous creature. We did
not know what really happened. It was a really a sad occasion for me.
Actually I cried when both the cat died; sad indeed. A neighbour gives us a
little mixed Persian kitten. It soon became the charm of the family. When we
move back to Kuala Lumpur in 1990 after I retired optionally from the
government service we took the cat along. It adept very well to our own home in
Ampang Jaya and its surrounding. We call it Tina and as we move on over the
years she too grow old and died after two week when we left to live in the
United State in 1998. From that henceforth we decided no more cats for us but
cats have always been in our heart.

Some months ago a stray kitten with collar
attached to her neck came around and because it was raining we took it into the
house and give it shelter. She was so charming and adorable. We thought
that it belongs to someone who love cat so we start looking for its owner
through Facebook, asking around and even put posters of it on lamp-pole around
the neighbourhood. After weeks without any respond we decided to just keep it
for a while. We did fell in love with that kitten but as yet to decide whether
to keep her or not. As time goes by we heard of a young couple, a friend of our
daughter Lin was looking for a kitten for their two kids. So we decided to part
with it. We were actually sad to let it go but then we found it was happy to be
in a new home with kids around. So we are now had gone back to square one
without a cat in the house. But lives go on as usual. There are two cats in our
daughter Lin house nearby so whenever we go there we would play with the cats.

Just before her mom's birthday our eldest daughter calls and told me that she
wanted to get her mom a kitten as a birthday gift. I told her that it was OK
but remind her that it would not be easy of taking care of cat. There is the
daily chore to be done, the food to be bought and the litter bin had to be
clean and of course the expenses of the Veterinary services. The next day she
took her mom out and came back with a little Persian kitten as seem in the
image above. So folks here we are with this addition to the family. We named the
adorable kitten as Mei Mei. With this kitten it looks like we have gone full
circle. Now we have a cat in the family. Well folks, life is like that.

2 comments:

It's nice to be able to keep pets in the house. They can be a source of inspiration and happiness too. I used to keep cats some years ago. Unfortunately I can't keep this beautiful animal anymore now because of allergy problem. Have a nice day, Pak Idrus.